Reasons for oil prices fall

World oil prices have dropped by 3.5% since the start of the week. The price for Brent crude fell to $33.70 per dollar, which is the lowest index for the last few months. Experts link the decline to the resumption of oil exports from Iraq and the end of oil workers' strikes in Norway. Reports on the early transfer of power to an Iraqi government made the fall more unexpected and dramatic.

Andrei Lusnikov, an expert at Finmarket investment, said oil prices had been forced up in recent months as oil importers had accumulated reserves in anticipation of a rise in OPEC basket oil prices to over $35. This was another reason behind the price decline, according to the expert.

More than 5.8 million people voted for Nicholas Maduro at the presidential election in Venezuela. This is more than a quarter of registered voters. Why did those people vote for the man, who, as Western media write, took Venezuela to the brink of collapse?